To address this constant snacking?

[coffeerevelsrock]

I'm just trying to get a picture of what is normal as I really don't know whether I'm being UR or not.

I've just gone to the cupboard and seen that pretty much all the bars bought for this week's pack lunches have been eaten. This is the final straw in the issue I have with the way my sons (12 & 14) snack. It's constant - in and out of the cupboard or fridge. This week is worse than normal as we were away last week so I did a shop on Friday and then we've been in most of the time since hence it's nearly all gone. Normally I shop on a Sunday and then they're at school but even then often we've run out by Wednesday.

We are talking about a packet of Seals (Aldi penguins), 8 Aldi chocolate crepes, a box of cereal bars, numerous cracker/breadstick type things (would be no good for lunches anyway), punnet of raspberries, blueberries and tomatoes, a few sausage rolls and some picnic eggs - whole box. It's also not unusual for them to eat extra bowls of cereal - weetabix or shredded wheats or make bowls of porridge, using up all the sodding milk. They've also had a malt loaf and a few bagels as well.

Obviously, I don't want them to be hungry, but isn't this ridiculous? Both are on the skinny side - ds2 was recently weighed/measured and was just above underweight on the NHs thing so normal BMI but right at the lower end of the scale. Ds1 was similar when he was done but that was about 4 years ago. Both wear clothes for their ages, though ds1 needs adult trousers but has to wear a belt if the waist isn't adjustable. Neither has any fillings.

Ds1 eats all meals and finishes everything - without fail, and he is the worst culprit when it comes to snacking. Ds2 has been known to leave quite a bit of his meal and I notice when we're away that he's far less likely to do so - presumably because he's not snacking all bloody day.

Aside from the cost, it's the inconvenience. I'm a lp and work full time and have to work at home in the evenings, so I really don't want to be nipping out to get top-ups for lunches midweek. But maybe they need it and I should just buy more. The thing is, I feel whatever I buy they will eat within days as I have sort of tried this and notice that pretty much however much I buy they eat!

AIBU or does anyone have any suggestions?

Stop buying the pre-prepared, expensive snacks. Instead, get in more milk, cheese, eggs, beans, nuts, seeds, nutbutters, bread. A genuinely hungry child will make beans and toast or fry an egg. You are not starving then by failing to provide cereal bars. Do as their Dad does: a hearty sandwich or 2 and fruit for lunch. They don't need sugar for lunch.

@coffeerevelsrock

Aargh - meant to add they are at their dad's 4 days a fortnight (1 day one week and 3 the other) and I have asked if they do it there and they say no as he never has anything in! Sometimes I have even given them stuff to take there ti add to packed lunches as he only does a sandwich and a piece of fruit. Don't know if this is having an impact.

A sandwich and a piece of fruit is perfectly fine for lunch for a teenager, though. It sounds like you're choosing to buy loads of extras when it's actually not necessary.

Like PP say, get rid of the pre-packaged snacks and buy things like eggs, cheese, oatcakes, baked beans, bacon, sausages and plenty of fruit and veg, and then let them cook meals for themselves.

They don't need chocolate bars, chocolate pancakes, sausage rolls, scotch eggs etc. If I had all those in the house I would 100% pick them to eat above cooking a meal

Sorry OP but this is absolutely normal for teenage boys.

I do sympathise though as it's bloody expensive.

5 snacks at the start of the day to put in their box

5 snacks a day???

That’s loads. What kind of snacks are these?

I think snacking is all habit. It really is positive to go four hours between meals (fine to have a substantial tea eg beans on toast at 4ish if you don’t eat dinner till 8ish). I broke the habit in my 30s when I needed to lose weight. Wish I had before.

@VampireVicki

Sorry OP but this is absolutely normal for teenage boys.

I do sympathise though as it's bloody expensive.

Taking food you've been asked not to touch because it's for packed lunches, is not 'normal' and shouldn't be seen as such.

Constantly snacking because the house is full of snacks however, is pretty normal, which is why the OP should be concentrating on stocking up on food the boys can quickly cook for themselves.

I've raised 3 boys and it's amazing how when they had to get off their arses and actually cook something, they suddenly weren't hungry anymore

Hide it and 'release' it slowly throughout the week. Never just chuck it all in the cupboard and expect it to be eaten in sensible gradual amounts. Rookie mistake

"Taking food you've been asked not to touch because it's for packed lunches, is not 'normal' and shouldn't be seen as such."

In theory yes but if there's not enough cereal, bread, pot noodles, fruit crisps and protein for them to snack on then they will go straight for the lunch snacks.

3 sons, totally normal🤣 mine would eat dinner and an hour later be back for huge bowls of cereal! Used to get ones like shreddies and weetabix as more filling and bagels, they would eat those like eating doughnuts just dry or with cream cheese/marmite. Sorry to tell you but it gets worse when they get older and decide to take up weights to put muscle on💪😂

You could do a snack basket for home and one for school lunches.

The school lunches one is out of bounds, and the home one is gone when it's gone.

Keep a stash of hard boiled eggs, pork pies, etc in the fridge with the same arrangement.

Also worth getting them to prep their own lunches - then they are directly affected if the lunch stuff is eaten

Found bagels, crumpets fills my my teenager though he still likes to get the nice snacks but not as much. Malt loaf too but ge has gone off that

It's a well known fact that, if you enjoy eating, snack foods in the cupboard call out to you to come and eat them.

@cushioncovers

"Taking food you've been asked not to touch because it's for packed lunches, is not 'normal' and shouldn't be seen as such."

In theory yes but if there's not enough cereal, bread, pot noodles, fruit crisps and protein for them to snack on then they will go straight for the lunch snacks.

Only if there are no consequences.

I'm going to assume these teenagers have pocket money, and if they want packed lunch type snacks, they can go to the shop and buy some.

Get more protein based snacks to last them longer but if they're not overweight they're not overeating. Left over food would be being saved to snack on later though.

I would get beans ,Ravioli in a tin , Peanut butters /marmite and some good wholewheat bread .Some Bananas as well .Teenage Boys are like ravenous wolves they have hollow legs!

Mines the same op
Snacks here are
Unlimited fruit/cereal/yogurt/ porridge
Tuna sandwiches
Mugshots 🤢
Pasta in sauce sachets
Peanut butter
Rice cakes
Cheese and crackers
Mini apple pies
Frozen food - no meat sausage rolls, mini pizzas, pies, pasties, chicken burgers, chips

I don't buy crisps/biscuits frequently because they're hoovered up in a day or 2 (3dc) and it's just empty calories

They have proper meals with vegetables etc and the 3 of them like to graze but the teenager is just a hoover. He's told not to eat certain foods if it a dessert for one evening and he'll not touch it. But it's expensive feeding them n not wanting them to fill up on shite

If they’re hungry, they need to eat food.

Not processed and/ or sugary stuff.

Raspberries and blueberries are a waste of money for hungry stomachs - a 14yo boy could eat a whole punnet without it making the slightest dent in his hunger pangs.

Everything you’ve listed is something that can be unwrapped, eaten with one hand straight from the box, standing up.

On a Sunday evening they need to:

• boil a dozen eggs and peel them, leave them in a sealed box in the fridge
• halve some whole wheat bagels, spread them with PB or cream cheese, put them in a Tupperware box
• put a big tub of hummus and a bag of pitas in the fridge
• decant different nuts into a large Tupperware box and leave it on the side
• buy some bananas
• Put single serving tubs of plain full fat Greek yogurt in the fridge. They can add honey or a dollop of jam if they can’t hear it plain
• learn to use the toaster AND HOW TO WIPE UP CRUMBS AND PUT PLTES AND KNIVES IN THE DISHWASHER
• make their own packed lunches for school

Just don’t buy crap. If you don’t buy it, they can’t eat it.

I don't think that sounds like a lot tbh for two teens. My lot would scoff about the equivalent of double that - they're 11,9,7 and 3. The 3yo and 9yo eat the most.

Teach them how to make beans on toast, peanut butter sandwiches, scrambled egg, omelette …

Things that will actually fill them up.

I had one like this and like you was a single parent and on a strict budget.

I used to make a big pot of veg soup every few days, he was allowed as much as that as he wanted with bread. Lunch stuff was put into a separate box from stuff he was allowed to eat at anytime. At the seat he would take things from the lunch box so I just gave him a sandwich for lunch. He soon stopped taking stuff.

Me and my sister were like this. My mum just stopped buying it. There was always bread available.

They need more calories than adults at this age as they're adult sized BUT also still growing and have a higher metabolism

Especially true with boys/men

You say they eat all their meals - are the meals filling enough? Have enough protein in them?

Perhaps you could also add bread and butter on the side and a pudding?

Seems counterintuitive but generally works out healthier and cheaper than the snacking surprisingly

I had a dd but due to her disability she had an even higher metabolism than other teens and really struggled to keep UP to healthy MINIMUM weight.

When she was home I always had a pot of soup on the go in autumn/winter and in the spring/summer lots of snackable salad veg - cherry tomatoes, carrot batons, celery sticks etc and sometimes still a soup too.

She can't eat a big meal in one go because of her condition too so it's 5/6 small meals a day for her rather than 3 which she still does now so eg :

Breakfast -Cereal (sometimes porridge) or yoghurt or toast and marmite and fruit juice

Elevenses - soup and a roll or something on toast

Lunch - sandwiches or a roll or a wrap or sometimes soup or a salad

Dinner - usually offerings pasta, chilli, stir fry, casseroles etc but not a large portion

Supper - sometimes another portion (her sizing) of what was had for dinner or something on toast or a wrap etc

Really had to push the fluids too as she has a tendency towards dehydration which causes issues for her and she forgets (I am the same)

Other snacking ideas were things like falafel, cheese sticks, boiled eggs cold in the fridge, deli slices, cold cooked chicken, that kinda thing

It IS expensive at this point and it's very tricky to manage!

I've said on here before - to the disbelief of certain cynical types - that when she left home a couple years back my grocery bill dropped by 2/3! Kids are expensive! That wasn't Just food of course it was other grocery items too (she went through loads of shower gel and shampoo too!)

It's a difficult stage for this

You need to hide some

@GoodnightGrandma

You need to hide some

No she doesn't.

She needs to tell them packed lunch snacks are out of bounds and they need to learn to respect that.

There's been far too many threads in the past from MNetters pulling their hair out, because their DH's keep eating the kids packed lunch snacks, or the OP's snacks as well as their own.

This is probably because they've been brought up to believe they're entitled to everything just because 'they want them now'.

All this ‘hiding’ nonsense! When I was a kid we had crisps/treats in a cupboard but had to ask before we took anything. If the answer was no we didn’t. I do the same with my DC. Why are so many people hiding food rather than having clear rules?

I don’t think the snacking sounds too unusual for this age. As others say, have more healthy options and teach them how to prepare it.